And the phone was rewarded for having the best speakers on a phone by DXOMark.
It’s been nearly a year since the Blackshark 4 Pro. That phone was also released here a little late but that’s okay since it still is a top-notch phone with performance specs.
Xiaomi has finally released the fifth generation of the Blackshark 5, and they went all out for this one, just like in the previous Blackshark. There are two phones in the series. The regular Blackshark 5 and the BlackShark 5 Pro. It may be a response to the Legion Y90 that was also recently released.
The Blackshark 5 series brings a refreshed design. Instead of having polygonal-shaped back, it now uses a more familiar rectangular design that still feels as aggressive.
Black Shark 5
The BlackShark 5 comes with a 6.67in. FHD+ (2400x1080px) Samsung E4 AMOLED with 144Hz variable refresh rate and 720Hz touch sampling rate. It has a maximum brightness of 1300nits and has support for DC Dimming, HDR10+, 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut, and about 1 billion colours. All of these are typical features of Samsung’s E4 AMOLED but we can’t help but ask why do most gaming phones limit themselves to FHD+ resolution when flagships like the OnePlus 10 Pro use a 2K screen.
Like other gaming phones, it has a pressurized screen with dual zones which is important for haptic feedback and an extremely fast response rate. This feature is useful for hardcore gamers that do not play Candy Crush. Speaking of response rate, the phone has an 8.3ms multi-finger touch response delay.
The phone uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor which may not be the highest-end chipset (going for SD888 would have been a better choice) but it is also optimized. So I guess that’s the reason why they went with SD870 instead. This is paired with 8 or 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and 128 or 256GB UFS 3.1 internal storage. Unlike the Pro or RS variant, this does not carry a Solid State Drive.
It has three cameras arranged in a similar fashion as the iPhone 12 or 13 Pro. The main camera is 64mp and it’s paired with a 13mp ultrawide and a 2mp macro. Upfront is the usual 16mp sensor for selfies.
It has a fairly large 4650mAh battery coupled with the very fast 120W charging that was also used for the Redmi Note 11 Pro+. To keep things cool while you’re gaming for 24 hours, the phone has a VC Cooling System filled with two vapour chambers. According to Xiaomi, it takes about 15 minutes to charge the phone from empty to full with the included 120W charger.
The phone runs with JoyUI 13 based on Android 12. As a gaming phone, it has magnetic shoulder pads that act as triggers.
In China, the phone starts at CNY 2,799 (~Php 22.7K) for the 8/128 variant while the higher end 12/128 and 12/256 start at CNY 2,999 (~Php 24.3K) and CNY 3,299 (~Php 26.8K) respectively. The phone comes in Black, White, or Grey colour schemes and is available at the BlackShark store, Xiaomi store, or online retailers like JD.com
It might take a while for the phone to be officially available in the Philippines, as the BlackShark 4 series only arrived recently.
SPECS:
- 6.67in. FHD+ (2400x1080px) Samsung E4 AMOLED, 144Hz refresh rate, 720Hz touch sampling rate
- HDR10+, DC Dimming
- Dolby Vision
- 100% DCI-P3 Colour Gamut
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 (7nm)
- CAMERAS:
- 64mp (main), f/1.8
- 13mp (ultrawide), 120°
- 5mp (macro), f/2.4
- FRONT: 16mp
- 4650mAh, 120W fast charging
- Trigger Pads, VC Cooling System, 8.3ms touch response delay, SGS Blu-ray certification
- Stereo Speakers, Dolby Atmos, No Headphone Jack, Hi-Res Audio
- Black, White, Silver
- PRICE:
- 8/128: CNY 2,799 (~Php 22.7K)
- 12/128: CNY 2,999 (~Php 24.3K)
- 12/256: CNY 3,299 (~Php 26.8K)
Source: Blackshark (in Chinese)
BlackShark 5 RS
The BlackShark 5 RS is similar in respect to the BlackShark 5, except this uses a steroid-filled Snapdragon 888+ (for the 12/256 version) or a Snapdragon 888 processor (for the 8/256 version), and a different design, much more akin to the BlackShark 4 series. It also has a headphone jack.
SPECS:
- 6.67in. FHD+ (2400x1080px) Samsung E4 AMOLED, 144Hz refresh rate, 720Hz touch sampling rate
- HDR10+, DC Dimming
- Dolby Vision
- 100% DCI-P3 Colour Gamut
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+ (5nm) (12/256), or Snapdragon 888 (5nm) (8/256)
- CAMERAS:
- 64mp (main), f/1.8
- 13mp (ultrawide), 120°
- 5mp (macro), f/2.4
- FRONT: 16mp
- 4650mAh, 120W fast charging
- Trigger Pads, VC Cooling System, 8.3ms touch response delay, SGS Blu-ray certification
- Stereo Speakers, Dolby Atmos, 3.5mm Headphone Jack, Hi-Res Audio
- Black, White, Silver
- PRICE:
- 8/256: CNY 3,299 (~Php 26.8K)
- 12/256: CNY 3,799 (~Php 30.8K)
Source: BlackShark (in Chinese)
BlackShark 5 Pro
The main highlight and the phone BlackShark wants you to buy. It also has been noticed by DXOMark and they tested it. Currently, it is the highest-scoring phone for audio, accumulating 86 points for its loudness and consistency.
The screen is the same as the other BlackShark 5 phones. It is 6.67in. Samsung E4 AMOLED with a 144Hz refresh rate and 720Hz touch sampling rate. Like the others, it supports DCI-P3 colour gamut and HDR10+
Its cameras are slightly different but are arranged the same way as the BlackShark 5. The main sensor is the midrange 108MP Samsung ISOCELL HM2 sensor complemented with a 13mp ultrawide and 5mp macro. As gaming phones, cameras aren’t of the highest priority.
It uses the top-notch Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor that is cooled by a VC Cooling System composed of two Vapour Chamber composites. The processor is paired with 8, 12, or 16GB RAM and either 256 or 512GB internal storage. The storage for this is divided into two compartments. One for SSD and the other for the flash UFS 3.1. Only one other phone used SSD for storage, the Lenovo Legion Y90 and this makes boot times extremely fast.
The battery is the same as well, 4650mAh with 120W fast charging. Like the other phones, it has magnetic shoulder pads, X-Axis Linear motor for enhanced haptic feedback which is an important factor in gaming, especially those that require fast movement.
There is a stereo speaker system that has been noted by DXOMark for its rich and loud sound, with consistent clarity. There are four microphones that surround the phone so that your voice will always turn out clear without a “watery-like” feeling to it.
In China, it is available for purchase today. It starts at CNY 4,199 (~Php 34K) for the base 8/256 version. A 12/256 option is also available for CNY 4,699 (~Php 38.1K) and finally, the highest-end option is available for CNY 5,499 (~Php 44.5K) with a configuration of 16/512.
SPECS:
- 6.67in. FHD+ (2400x1080px) Samsung E4 AMOLED, 144Hz refresh rate, 720Hz touch sampling rate
- HDR10+, DC Dimming
- Dolby Vision
- 100% DCI-P3 Colour Gamut
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4nm)
- UFS 3.1 + SSD combination storage
- CAMERAS:
- 64mp (main), f/1.8
- 13mp (ultrawide), 120°
- 5mp (macro), f/2.4
- FRONT: 16mp
- 4650mAh, 120W fast charging
- Trigger Pads, VC Cooling System, 8.3ms touch response delay, SGS Blu-ray certification
- Stereo Speakers, Dolby Atmos, 3.5mm Headphone Jack, Hi-Res Audio
- Black, White, Silver
- PRICE:
- 8/256: CNY 4,199 (~Php 34K)
- 12/256: CNY 4,699 (~Php 38.1K)
- 16/512: CNY 5,499 (~Php 44.5K)
Source: BlackShark (in Chinese), via GSMArena
You must be logged in to post a comment.